Free Captured: Hunted Love #3 by Aden Lowe Page A

part.
     
    Fuck it. He'd come this far already. Might as well go on and at least see.
     
    What the fuck ever.
     

Chapter Eleven: Jakob
    The soft pre-dawn light allowed Jakob to make out Kate's features while she slept, her head pillowed on his arm. He could look at her like that forever, her face all smooth and peaceful in sleep. The morning birds set up a cacophony in the trees, growing louder as the light increased. Every morning for the rest of his life needed to be the same. Only making love to his Kate as the sun rose could make it any better.
    His Kate. Just the words changed something inside him. And after their little excursion around the bend of the creek the evening before, he could almost believe all those dreams might come to pass. Too bad they didn't have time to explore it immediately.
    Even as the thought faded, Brady stirred in his bedroll and sat up to rub the sleep from his eyes. After a wary glance around the camp, the lanky man discreetly turned his blanket back to pull on his jeans, then stood and stepped into his boots and crammed his hat onto his head. In near silence, he headed into the trees. A few minutes later, his voice floated back as he spoke gently to the horses.
    Brady returned to camp and stirred up the fire and, within moments, had coffee and breakfast started. Alan woke and Jakob could no longer prolong the inevitable. He woke Kate gently and helped with her jeans, then dressed himself.
    Every movement felt like his brain had turned into a bowling ball and kept rolling around within his skull. Not fun, but he'd had worse. Odd that it hurt worse than it had the day before. He must have overdone it playing with Kate. Well worth it.
    Breakfast turned out to be oatmeal seasoned with dried apples, and strong coffee. Not what he expected for camp food, but definitely welcome.
    Finished eating, Brady sipped his coffee then looked to Kate. "Miss Kate, if you're ready, I think we should head home right away. That shooter could still be hanging around, and if he is, sooner or later, he'll stumble across us here. Even if we stood watch, it would be too easy for him to get close enough to finish his job."
    "You think it was deliberate?"
    "No doubt. Shooting more than once is no accident. And you've never given anyone permission to hunt or camp out here, so there's no reason for anyone to be wandering around to make an accidental shot. Somebody deliberately watched, followed, and shot."
    Jakob agreed. "You know anyone around here who'd have a reason to do that kind of thing?"
    "Nobody local I can think of."
    Jakob's head thumped harder. Had someone followed him? Had his work put Kate in danger? "We should get out of here as soon as we can." He couldn't bear the thought that she might be in danger because of him. He needed her home and safe, right away.
    Kate nodded. "There's no sense waiting for him to pick us off. Whoever it is, I want them to pay, but I'm not bringing the law into it. They'd never find enough evidence, even if they found the guy. So, I'll think of something else."
    Jakob silently agreed, but kept it to himself. He had no desire to undermine her authority in any way. Her men needed to know she still called the shots, relationship or not. As soon as they finished the meal, Alan and Brady started to pack up so they could break camp. He started to help, but Kate sent him to roll up his blankets, citing his wound as a reason for him to do something quiet.
    With the task finished, he was left with nothing to do for a few moments. Rather than twiddle his thumbs in reality, he settled for grabbing a thin stick and scratching around in the dirt. After a moment, something started to take shape—a crude heart shape with his name and Kate's. Childish bullshit. But he didn't have the wherewithal to scratch it out.
    Kate approached from behind and froze for a minute. "You spell your name with a 'K'?"
    Surprised, he looked up at her. "Yeah. My mom had this thing about odd spellings, but my dad